Ami, if you liked the Rider, try the Enigma. Also interesting is the NB 1080 v.3--lower heal drop, more flexible, but well cushioned and light. A favorite of mine is the good ole Nike Pegasus. Sometimes it's too soft for my needs. But when the mileage gets high, I enjoy wearing them on easy days.

Indiana- I did feel a lot better once I got out there- I kept my outer layer light and had a tech shirt underneath and cw-x tights.   I have gels but I try to train without them so that if I end up with problems on race day, my body isn't too dependent.

Cbus- thanks.  I think the run cleared my sinuses completely, so now it just feels like a sore throat.

Run was awesome, and I may have hopped in the snow for an impromptu ice bath at the end.  There were some serious icy spots that I had to avoid, so my splits are uneven - mostly between 8:50-9:20 with two 10:00 miles to avoid the ice patches.  I'm pretty happy to see that my old "hard" paces now feel easy.  43 for the week = the most I have EVER run in one week.

Flinders - Enjoy the rest day

Docket - I've run in both cold and heat.  My theory is I need to live in Canada in the summer and somewhere down south in the winter

Sprinkles - Glad you decided to get outside

Indi - lol, I thought I was a rock star with going after my 75 ft hill three times today instead of two.  Nice job with the 3000 ft.  I'm pretty pleased with my 425 ft today

cbus - great paces

DTF - I'm really enjoying Pfitz so far.  I'm using a combination of HR and mcmillian pacing and planning to re-adjust every 3-4 weeks or so based on my avg performances.

Me - 14.4 miles @ 9:31.  Started with 9:40's and dropped down to 9:20's and settled in, felt very comfortable.  HR's nice and solid across the board.  Really hard with the ice out there and last few miles the wind really picked up and was quite cold.  So over this winter stuff.  Shower and hot chocolate time.......

It was very well organized this time around and it was nice to run with only 1500 other people (the HMers started later and somewhere else) and having 5 lanes for ourselves.  I am not sure if those are normal conditions for LV but my lungs hated the race with a passion.  I think I would do it again because (1) we like Vegas so we'll be back; and (2) I would like revenge on the course.

cmb - i'm so sorry about your injury - yikes ! were you mid training cycle or close to race day? winter weather over here scares the heck out of me. We had some sun yesterday that started melting the snow but didnt get all the way, so my routes now have alot of black ice on them. Plus snow in the streets that looks soft is actually rock hard and crunchy. I wish there were indoor tracks around here.

 

docket - i'm a month behind everyones posts - lol - anyway, i was reading your las vegas race review - holy cow ! that must of been heck to run through all that sand with your condition and with a nasty wind too - is that normal for LV ? i cant imagine sand in the shoes too - would you run it again? how were conditions at the finish line - i'm assuming the race organizers did a better job than the debacle the year before? any drunk folks in the marathoner lane this year ? lol

 

as for me - 10 down today ran on effort to hold 10 min/mile.  I'm also doing alot of reading and thinking of my race planning this year (what plan, paces) and I admit i'm struggling. Alot of people have told me to just do the same plan i did last year and that will be enough to break 4:00 (Pfitz) with the hope that I get some carryover performance from training last year. I may just do this, but then i need to look at pace planning. Last year i did Pfitz using Mcmillian pace estimates as opposed to pure heart rate. However, as you all probably know McMillian sped up its paces online. I like Hansons but cant find time to run 6 days a week. I'm also watching all of you Hansons runners to see how your training translates into your spring races. So your feedback will be important in my final planning later this spring.

cbus - usually just after I take off some time from running like recently with the toe injury. Doesn't seem to matter which shoe.

Roll, maybe you should see the doc about this issue.

They do tend to appear more normal after you input a marathon and a goal.  If you use anything shorter than that, the McMillan starts getting WTF.

 

Josh - this is intriguing. I'm going to have to check this out. I'm assuming your using the current McMillian calculator with the aggresive paces ?

McMillan is hit or miss IMO.  I have loosley lused his recommended paces for training while not using his goal recommended MP.  I think part of game of all of us who dont have the benefit of a coach is fuguring out what you can do.  Listening to advice from others, including the donuts group, looking at race times, percieved effort, HR, HRR, all of the usual indicators, and ultimately making the decision on your own and taking it to the big race......... What could be more fun?

Sprinkles - I have been very seldomly using gels.  I always use them during GMP runs, and I use them on a larger spread during 18 to 22 mile runs.  In a pinch, if I feel like crap, and I think I need some nutrition I will bring one.  Good job getting your run in and on the mileage PR.

GO HOOSIERS!

 

Josh - this is intriguing. I'm going to have to check this out. I'm assuming your using the current McMillian calculator with the aggresive paces ?

yeah my hampster wheel has a crazy amount of extra grease, that thing up top never stops spinning.  I'm always calculating, averaging, analysing, what-iffing, etc....

I started with a 3:59:59 with mcmilian and making sure I am within pfitz's recomended HR's and am adjusting from there.  Running my tempo by HR I'm 20 seconds faster than mcmilians paces.  So I adjusted today's LR to match my tempo and my HR's were still right in the middle of pfitzs range, never touching the max.  I'll try to hold these paces until my 10 MP miles in two weeks and see how I handle the tempo's when the mileage starts to increase and i'll adjust from there, one way or another.

Then my theory is if I can knock out a sub 1:49:49 HM in march, I think i could do better, mcmilian puts me at a 3:51 for the full so add 9 minutes and I have my sub-4